Chicken/veggie garden safety

bigamie(z5 IL)August 29, 2013

Hello. I am not sure where to post this but I have a few questions. I have 6 hens that I sometimes let out in my small yard/garden. I blocked off my garden areas about 45 days ago. Should I worry about salmonella on my tomatoes or peppers? Not so much worried about myself but giving my stuff to my extended family which includes the young nd old. I just don't want to give them more than they bargained for. Thanks I am a total chicken newbie my first hen just started laying 12 days ago!!! The pic isn't that good of one but its taken before I blocked them out.

I forgot to post my other questions. Can I just pull weeds and throw them on the run or do they need to be chopped up? Same with table scraps or compost items? Any suggestions on seeds I could plant in flats for sprouts for them? I just switched my new food to the breakfast of champion layers. Does anyone have any thoughts/experience with this?

Salmonella occurs in about 1 out of every 25,000 eggs due to improper washing procedures at the plant. The chance of this happening to any of your veggies is 0, so long as you rinse them. If you don't clean your produce, well, you've got other things to worry about like the bacteria that naturally occur in soil, like staph, clostridium, and botulism.

Now... having chickens eat your peppers and tomatoes is much more likely. Birds don't have as many taste buds as other mammals and won't care whose food it is.

Yes, you can give chickens whole weeds. They'll break then apart with their beak. And again, yes, chickens will eat almost all table scraps and compost material including meat. I've found that my chickens won't eat onions or potato peels, so don't bother with those (or coffee grounds, since you bring up compost).

Chickens instinctively know what may not be good for them.

You can sprout any grain for them. But the ones with the most nutrition are Black oil sunflower seeds and barley. Google search 'growing fodder for chickens' for the details.

Unfortunately I have no experience with feeds other than Nutrena and cannot help with your last question, sorry.

Thanks for your straightforward answers Sumatra. Your right about them eating my veggies that's why they got fenced out in the first place. My hubby was just making me paranoid. Love him anyway! Love the chickens they are more fun than I imagined. Thanks again

I am constantly pulling weeds and throwing them into our chicken run. Looking forward to the end of harvest when I can let our chickens into the garden. Wish ours were laying, still waiting, should be another week or two.

I am constantly pulling weeds and throwing them into our chicken run. Looking forward to the end of harvest when I can let our chickens into the garden. Wish ours were laying, still waiting, should be another week or two.